Chris Ward

TripleGem
11th Feb 2008
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Buddhism and Science

Author : Chris Ward

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Index
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Introduction............................................................................................................3
Relating Science to Buddhism ...............................................................................4
Buddhist and Scientific Worldviews .....................................................................7
The Experienced World .......................................................................................10
The Undetermined Questions on the World ........................................................12
The Structure and Development of the Physical Universe ..................................14
Cycles of Change in Biological and Human Society...........................................18
Conclusion ...........................................................................................................21

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1. Introduction
The scientific worldview is arguably the most dominant and pervasive of all Western
worldviews. Not only do many people implicitly trust scientific statements, but there
are some who see science as offering a complete approach to life and reality (Wallace:
3-4, 10-20). Scientific rational empiricism, allied with secular materialism and
consumerism provide a powerful modern challenge to the traditional worldviews of
all faiths including Buddhism. 1 2
The relationship between Western science and Buddhist worldviews has been of
growing interest for nearly two centuries. As early Buddhist texts came to be
interpreted and Buddhist doctrine better understood, the enumerated lists of teachings
and their application of reason and empiricism suggested that Buddhism was an
essentially logical and evidence based philosophy which had accumulated a
superstitious veneer.
Continuing study has shown that Buddhism is not just a scientific philosophy that
can be neatly packaged within Western categories, but a complex and living body of
teachings that cuts across our modern views of science, philosophy, psychology,
cosmology and religion.
The main divergence from the scientific enterprise of course, is that the Buddhas
primary aim was soteriological - to help liberate humanity from dukkha suffering
not to discover and apply theories about the material world.
Although Buddhism is well-known for an ability to adapt to different cultures there
are always points of tension, so it is appropriate to explore possible rules of
engagement between the scientific and Buddhist worldviews. Should, for example,
all scientific statements which contradict Buddhist teachings simply be ignored? And
are we comparing like with like when we directly contrast Buddhist and modern
cosmologies?
In this essay I will firstly be considering models of how science and Buddhism can
best relate to each other the rules of engagement. I will then examine Buddhist and
scientific approaches to the world; the attitude of Buddhism and science to the
Buddhist undetermined questions metaphysical questions that the Buddha declined
to answer; modern and Buddhist cosmology; and cycles of change in respect of
Buddhist views on the descent of humanity and biological evolution.
I will use Pali rather than Sanskrit for Buddhist terms and when I refer to Buddhism
in a general sense I am referring to the Buddhism of the Pali Nikyas unless otherwise
stated.

A recent post-modernist critique of traditional Buddhist ideas is found in Buddhism without Belief
Riverhead Books, 1998 by Stephen Batchelor
2
We should not ignore, however, the many debates that are found in the Suttas with various kinds of
materialists and sceptics, some of whom seem to be expounding a very scientific outlook. A good
example is The Pysi Sutta Debate with a Sceptic (D.23).

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Relating Science to Buddhism

How should we relate science and religion? One well-known view - recently espoused
by Stephen Jay Gould - is that science and religion should be regarded as autonomous
and independent domains or non-overlapping magisteria (Gould 2002: 29).
Science is empirically based, and concerns itself with how the physical universe
operates, whilst religion is concerned with human meaning, purpose and values. On
this model, the two exist in amicable separation.
However, Gould is undoubtedly more familiar with Western religions, as Buddhism
contains a large element of empiricism which leaves it straddling both camps.
There are also a number of prominent scientists, like Richard Dawkins, who argue
that we should not regard science and religion as separate, because religions do make
truth claims about the nature of reality and existence and do not confine themselves
only to questions of meaning and value.
Martin Willson, in Rebirth and the Western Buddhist, pp.47-58, suggests three
positions that Buddhists could take in relating science with Buddhism:

'fundamentalism', which simply rejects scientific findings which do not agree

with the details of developed Buddhist traditions
'retreat', trimming Buddhist teachings back to only 'spiritual' matters, leaving
the whole of the physical realm to science.
'synthesis', in which the interpretations of scientific findings are critically
assessed in the light of Dharma, and certain traditional Buddhist ideas, such as
the Sineru-centred image of the earth, are rejected.

Willson favours synthesis, which also fits with the Dawkins approach..
The Dalai Lama holds that where there is a conflict between proven empirical
scientific fact and traditional Buddhist descriptions of the world, then the Buddhist
descriptions should be discarded. The Dalai Lama makes it clear though, that only
empirically proven scientific facts should be accepted. This would leave ideas such as
rebirth as an acceptable Buddhist teaching although still vulnerable to future scientific
discoveries. (Jinpa: 77)
The Dalai Lama positions this view against a broader stance which sees convergence
and synthesis between Buddhism and science:
The Dalai Lama sees the strength of modern science lies in its overwhelming
reliance on empirical evidence. Thus there is a fundamental convergence
between what is called the scientific method, which consists of observation,
reason, and experiment, and the Buddhist method of enquiry, which emphasises
the development of understanding derived through observation and critical
analysis. (Jinpa: 77)

The consensus seems to be that both retreat and synthesis are required and that it is
the scientific method in particular which is consonant with Buddhist enquiry.

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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Interestingly, Buddhism already has a framework which would seem to effectively
support this. This is the niyma framework based upon the idea of natural laws as
encompassed by the term Dhamma.
Dhamma Theory
Monks, whether or not there is the arising of Tathagatas, this property
stands -- this steadfastness of the Dhamma, this orderliness of the
Dhamma. A.III.134.
(http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/anguttara/an03-134.html)

Bhikkhu Bodhi in his introduction to Nyanaponika Theras book Abhidhamma

Studies, describes the Dhamma theory:
This theory maintains that the manifold of phenomenal existence is made up
of a multiplicity of thing-events called dhammas, which are the realities
that conceptual thought works upon to fabricate the consensual world of
everyday reality .. the dhammas are evanescent occurrences, momentary
mental and physical happenings brought into being through conditions.
(Nyanaponika: xvi)

Warder (1971:272-295) decides in an article exploring the many meanings of the

word dhamma, that dhamma reflects a hypothesis about experience:
It is a scientific hypothesis about the universe, seeking the real laws of
nature underlying the surface appearance of things, the real forces
underlying the personifications of superstitions, the real way the universe
works

In the Abhidhamma Dhammsaga (upon which Nyanaponika Thera bases his

analysis), we find a systematic categorisation of the Buddhas teachings into lists of
ontological actualities the dhammas. The dhammas are grouped into four classes
of ultimates which are further broken down into consciousness, mental, and material
factors plus one unconditioned element, Nibbna.
The other books comprising the Pali Abhidhamma the Vibhaga, the Dhtukath
and especially the Pahna, enumerates all the possible relations between the various
dhammic elements.
These carefully constructed lists of factors and relationships are reminiscent of
systems analysis specifications (used in information systems) which identify, define,
and cross-reference the component entities (and their properties) in an enterprise or
field of interest. In the case of the Abhidhamma, the enterprise is phenomological and
ontological the human subjective experience of reality.
The Abhidhamma has a distinctly scientific feel to it. Indeed for some it appears too
scientific, dissecting traditional religious emotions of awe, inspiration and meaning,
into dry cross-referenced lists. (BUDM04, P.Bell, posting).
In summarising this section we can say that the scientific enterprise could be
described as the search for patterns in the physical world and its processes. Pattern is

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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------also a word used for dhammas and so we can regard science as the search for
dhammas in the physical world.
Natural Laws
As we have seen, Buddhism is based upon the principle that everything is subject to
natural laws or Dhamma. The natural laws are described in Buddhist commentaries 3
under five categories of natural law or principle (niyma) (Payutto: 1-4):

Utuniyma - the laws describing physical processes covered under the

physical sciences

Bijaniyma - the principles governing heredity covered by the biological

sciences and including evolution and natural selection

Cittaniyma - the principles governing mind processes - comparable in some

ways with the scope of modern psychology, and also included within the
Abhidhamma

Kammaniyma - the principles governing the process of intentional actions

and their results. This is the widely applied law of Kamma and this niyma is
arguably the main focus of Buddhist teachings and since it is concerned with
issues of subjectivity, ethics and salvation, is not covered within any Western
scientific discipline

Dhammaniyma - the principles governing the relationship and processes of

all things. This is the overriding niyma which includes all the others.

The first three niymas (and the principle of regular natural laws included in
Dhammaniyma) may be regarded as representing a scientific outlook comparable to
Western disciplines (especially natural philosophy from which modern science
grew).
This gives us a useful framework in which to position science and Buddhism and
which emphasises an important principle of agreement in that both Buddhism and
science presume that everything is governed by natural laws and that these laws can
be known by a combination of penetrating empirical observation, reasoning and
intuitive insight 4.
Whereas Buddhism focuses mostly upon Kammaniyma and to a lesser extent,
Cittaniyma, science is concerned with the non-kammic niymas those which
include physical and biological processes.

The various sub-categories of Dhamma Niymas seem to have originated in the Ahaslin
(Buddhaghosas commentary on the Dhammasaga) but are not to be found in the Suttas although
Dhamma Niyma itself can be found in the Dhamma-niyma Sutta - Anguttara Nikaya III.134 - The
Discourse on the Orderliness of the Dhamma.
4
Intuitive insight is regularly experienced by scientists when solutions to complex problems are
suddenly realised the eureka moments.

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3. Buddhist and Scientific Worldviews

A simple way of painting the relationship between science and Buddhism is to regard
Buddhism as being primarily concerned with the inner experiential world and the
qualities of this experience, and science as being primarily interested in the material
world of the senses. An example of this different focus is that Buddhism lists the six
sense bases whereas science speaks of the five senses, - ignoring the mind sense that
is so important in Buddhism 5 but anathema in a classical scientific method which
aims to remove all elements of subjectivity from experimentation and analysis. The
mind sense or imagination is, however, of great interest to Western disciplines of
psychology, psychotherapy and philosophy.
There are many similarities of outlook between science and Buddhism particularly
in the importance given to empirical routes to knowledge. Here, of course, we must be
a little wary of generalisations. Both science and Buddhism are large and complex
disciplines so my characterisations may not be true for every area of Buddhism and
science. I will also gloss over the distinction between the scientific method and the
implied philosophic principles underlying science.
The similarities between Buddhism and science are that:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Both encourage acute and unbiased observation of natural phenomenon.

They share an empirical and non-dogmatic approach to gaining knowledge.
They both employ rational and systematic thought.
Both share the view that acknowledging the truth of the way things are is of
primary importance and overrides views as enshrined in scriptures, authorities,
tradition or dogma. 6 7.
5. Both create hypotheses which are to be investigated and are open to proof,
although the nature of the proof is personal insight in Buddhism (which may
lead to verifiable and positive changes of behaviour and presence), whereas
science displays such proofs through publicly repeatable experiments.
6. Buddhism and science both use ideas of causality to explain phenomenon.
7. Both science and Buddhism assume that natural laws exist which govern
phenomenon and which are predictable.

Differences are that:

1. Science assumes the real existence of a material world as-though-humans-donot-exist. This gives rise to some problems. Although early Buddhism does
acknowledge that there is a material reality (Jayatilleke:66 and Harvey
1995:81), this is regarded as conditioned in many complex ways and our
5
The pre-eminence of Mind is especially emphasised by the Yogcra who expand the number of
mind senses from 1 to 3.
6
However, the understanding of the way things are in Buddhism would primarily mean the truths
revealed by the Buddha of impermanence, dukkha and not-self linked with all conditioned phenomena.
7
The empirical and non-dogmatic approach of Buddhism is described in the well-known (and popular
with Western readers) - Klma Sutta, - http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/anguttara/an03065.html .

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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------experience of it includes human discernment or consciousness as an integral
factor, along with the distorting affects of our biases and physical condition.
Classical science assumes a clean separation of the external material world
and the internal subjective world. The internal subjective world is then largely
ignored or factored out whilst the external material world is turned into a
metaphysical World 8. As we shall see later, Buddhism sees the world
(loka) in rather different ways to the objective world of science.
2. Buddhism points to a transcendent and unconditioned truth as experienced in
Nibbna, whereas science will only acknowledge the conditioned and material
(and measurable) world.
3. Science aims to work from a value free perspective to satisfy the desire for
objective knowledge and technological advantage. Buddhism operates from
the viewpoint that the motivations and intentions behind our actions are very
important and that kamma-free action is impossible, unless one is
enlightened. In Buddhism, desire can be wholesome or harmful and the
knowledge that is aimed at is liberating insight which brings release from
suffering rather than an intellectual appreciation of the laws of the material
world or the ability to manipulate the physical world to our advantage.
4. Classical Science assumes the enduring permanence of the laws of nature that
it discovers. These are considered to be true in all times and places. Although
Buddhism is based upon the way things are - the Dhamma - which
acknowledges the existence of regular laws - these are considered to be
impermanent and conditioned (apart from Nibbna, which is generally
presented in the early Suttas as the only unconditioned dhamma).
5. Buddhists believe that empirical knowledge may be obtained through extrasensory or intuitive ways in deep meditative states. In effect this is direct
knowledge gained through the mind sense.
6. Buddhism and science regard supernatural forces in different ways. Although
neither would regard these as being a key support of their worldviews, science
generally discounts even the possibility of supernatural events, whilst
Buddhism does refer to many phenomena (such as rebirth, the existence of
gods and devas in other realms, and psychic powers) which would not be
scientifically respectable.
Although Buddhism can be seen to have many similarities with science, the
systematic models presented by the Buddha have a soteriological aim, to help
humanity towards spiritual enlightenment and to alleviate suffering (dukkha). This
primary motive is not shared by the scientific enterprise in general, although it may be
shared by individual scientists. Science in a general sense is motivated by a desire to
understand intellectually and manipulate the material constituents and processes that
we experience. The implicit assumption is that the material world is somehow true

Although over the past several decades some of the complexity of subjective involvement in physical
phenomena has been acknowledged in quantum physics, this is seen as a special case

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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------and to be trusted. Taken to an extreme, science become Scientism - a new form of
nature religion (Wallace:17).

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4. The Experienced World

We have seen that science takes a particular view on the world. This is primarily
that it exists independently of consciousness and is essentially real whether or not
there is any observer.
In Buddhism the world (loka) has a different emphasis it refers to the world that
we experience on a daily basis, rather than some abstracted and objective reality. This
reflects the truth that our experience is a muddy and conditioned interaction between
the material world and the states that we are in at any particular moment. Our physical
and mental state is dependent upon a host of conditions such as whether we are
hungry and tired, clear headed and energetic, in the grip of desire, ill-will or delusion,
or some complex mixture of these.
The eye is that in the world by which one is the perceiver of the world, a
conceiver of the world. The ear The nose The tongue The body
The mind is that in the world by which one is a perceiver of the world.
That in the world by which one is a perceiver of the world, a conceiver of
the world this is called the world in the Noble Ones Discipline. S.IV.96

Our intentional activities also condition our consciousness in a substantial way. Our
current projects and preoccupations will automatically condition all that we notice.
Harvey (1990:57) offers a useful example of this.
In many places in the Suttas there is a clear association between ideas of Self and
world (Harvey 1995:78-83). This leads to the conclusion that from a Buddhist
perspective it is my world that is the issue and this conclusion is strongly supported
by S.IV.39 which leads Harvey to declare:
world , a being, and dukkha are said to be alternative ways of describing
the same eighteen elements.. That is, world, a being and dukkha
are equivalent. (Harvey 1995:30)

The Buddha, then, was more concerned with the problems or dukkha created from
my world as experienced than with the material world itself. So in the Loka Sutta
when the Buddha is asked to what the word world applies, the Buddha relates his
answer to our experience of the changeability or conditionality of the sensed world:
Then a certain monk went to the Blessed One . As he was sitting there, he
said to the Blessed One: "'The world, the world (loka),' it is said. In what
respect does the word 'world' apply? "Insofar as it disintegrates (lujjati), monk,
it is called the 'world.' Now what disintegrates? The eye disintegrates. Forms
disintegrate. Consciousness at the eye consciousness disintegrates. Contact at
the eye disintegrates. And whatever there is that arises in dependence on
contact at the eye -- experienced as pleasure, pain or neither-pleasure-nor-pain
-- that too disintegrates. S. XXXV.82
(http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/samyutta/sn35-082.html )
The world in Buddhist suttas is not a stable and fixed reality but a way of referring to

an experienced flow of impermanent conditioned phenomena in the same way that the

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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------self is. Neither the self nor the world should be seen as essential metaphysical
realities and ones perception of them is conditioned by ones clarity of vision which
is fundamentally influenced by kammic fruition and meditative attainment and
contingently coloured by our current physical and mental states and intentional
activities.
This is clearly a distinct position from the scientific viewpoint which postulates a real
metaphysical World.

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5. The Undetermined Questions on the World

The Buddha dealt with the many questions put to him in a variety of ways. Some of
the questions he declined to answer and this gave rise to a list of undetermined
questions. There are usually ten such questions (avykata):
"Venerable sir, concerning the various views that arise in the world -- 'The
cosmos is eternal' or 'The cosmos isn't eternal'; 'The cosmos is finite' or 'The
cosmos is infinite'; 'The soul and the body are the same' or 'The soul is one thing,
the body another'; 'A Tathagata exists after death' or 'A Tathagata doesn't exist
after death' or 'A Tathagata both exists & doesn't exist after death' or 'A Tathagata
neither exists nor doesn't exist after death'; these along with the sixty-two views
mentioned in the Brahmajala [D. 1] -- when what is present do these views come
into being, and when what is absent do they not come into being?" S XLI.3
(http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/samyutta/sn41003.html)

The possible reasons for the Buddhas silence on these questions have been a
continuing source of debate but the consensus is that the questions contain a number
of problems (Harvey 1995: 83-88 and Collins: 131-138). The questions are seen to be:

a distraction from the real goal of the holy life (for example M. 63 The
Camlunkya Sutta)
framed in such a way that deluded views of Self and World are assumed
and no simple answer is possible without colluding in these false views
likely to lead to even more misunderstanding about the nature of the world and
Self

Science has not been so reluctant to tackle these questions. From a scientific
perspective it is the first four questions of whether the cosmos is eternal or not or whether
it is infinite or not, which are immediately relevant. These questions have had a variety
of scientific answers and there is no current theory which fully matches all empirical
observations, although the most widespread view is that the universe which we
inhabit started at a finite moment of space-time as a super hot and dense point of
matter which exploded the big bang - creating an expanding bubble of space and
time which at some point may stop expanding and gradually fall back upon itself
ultimately leading to a big crunch 9. This means that the question of what existed
before the big bang is a badly formed question, as time is considered to have started
with the big bang.
However, Stephen Hawking was concerned that the initial state of our universe
would effectively be a quantum state where the normal laws of physics do not apply.
To avoid this, he has subsequently developed a theory (together with Jim Hartle)
called the No Boundary proposal which includes the concept of imaginary time and
leads to the conclusion that space-time is finite but has no boundary, which means
that it had no beginning and no moment of creation.

The current view (and this seems to change at regular intervals!), is that the universe will expand
forever as the value of the cosmological constant is non-zero (Susskind: 34-41).

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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Many other cosmologists are actively investigating the evolution of our universe. One
idea is that of string-theory. This is an increasingly coherent mathematical model
unifying quantum and gravitational theories and also making many surprising
predictions. One of the premises of string theory is that there are nine or ten spatial
dimensions and one time dimension. These lead to predictions of multiple universes
with differing physical laws. Ideas of multiple universes fit quite well with Buddhist
ideas of multiple world-systems.
I do not have the space to explore current cosmological research any further, but there
are clearly many unresolved scientific questions, and any dogmatic answers to the
first four undetermined questions look as unhelpful from a scientific perspective as
they were in different ways for the Buddha.
From a scientific perspective the remaining undetermined questions concern
possibilities of post-mortem survival. Although this whole area is not entirely
scientifically respectable, there is quite a body of empirical evidence to support it.
(For example Stevensons work). There is also a growing interest in near death
experiences which do suggest that other realms exist and that the death of the body is
not the end of consciousness. These interesting questions do look amenable to the
scientific method, however, I do not have the space to explore them further.

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6. The Structure and Development of the Physical

Universe
Although Buddhism is not primarily interested in theories about physical reality and
the structure of the universe, nevertheless there is a great deal of cosmological
material to be found in both the early Suttas and later commentaries.
Early Buddhism did not regard the physical world as non-existent (apart from some
readings of Buddhist idealist schools) (Jayatilleke: 66). In the Yogcra, for
example, mind is emphasised to the point that the very idea of an external physical
reality is denied. All is regarded as thought or representation only (citta-mtra and
vijapti-mtra) (Harvey 1990:106).
Early Buddhism described an atomic theory which is similar to early Greek theories
and which suggests that matter is composed of tiny particles which are invisible to the
naked eye. These tiny particles come together to form matter which is visible. Such
matter is further imbued (energised might also be implied here) by the four great
elements, earth, air, fire, and water. Space was subsequently added as the fifth
element (Sadakata: 20-25).
The physical Earth itself, for humanity, was seen as being centred upon Mount
Sineru/Meru which existed on the golden earth layer at the top of a series of layered
discs (wind and water) floating in space rather like a cylindrical layered chocolate
cake with golden icing! Humans were seen as occupying a small part of the golden
earth layer.
The Pali Canon (systemised in the Abhidhamma) then identifies 31 conditioned
realms in sasra - the rounds of rebirth and perpetual wandering which are related
to the Mount Sumeru geography.
We have been wandering in sasra for eons, where an eon is longer than the time it
would take to wear away a 7 mile high granite mountain with a fine cloth brushed
against the mountain once every hundred years! There is not considered to be any
spatial limit to the number of world systemsthe figure of 1,000,000,000,000 such
systems is mentioned by Buddhaghosa.
Human beings are born into a fortunate realm with the greatest possibility of
enlightenment. The other realms are either too hellish or too pleasant to prompt the
questioning attitude that leads to liberation. We move between realms at death on the
basis of our kamma and also transiently become aware of (or attuned to) them in
various meditational and other psychological states 10. Rebirth may be to or from
physically distant worlds, and to different realms. The realisation of Nibbna frees us
from kamma and rebirth, although what happens to an enlightened being is not
described in the Pali Suttas.
10

Harvey uses the useful analogy of tuning into these realms: meditatively accessing the different
heavens is akin to tuning into different radio or television channels. At certain 'frequencies' that the
mind can tune into, there are particular worlds of experience and beings. (BUDM01)

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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------These conditioned realms are not regarded as having some common beginning, but as
endlessly existing although going through expansive and contracting phases over long
timescales. The scope of space and time described in early Buddhism is vast and quite
akin to some ideas in modern astronomy - for example galaxies might be compared
with a thousandfold minor world-system and galaxy clusters with a twothousandfold middling world-system (Jayatilleke: 94-6). Modern groups, clusters
or superclusters of galaxies might also be comparable in concept to a threethousandfold great thousandfold world- system.
As well as our Earth, there are numerous other world-systems:
Monks, as far as the moon and sun revolve in their course and illuminate all directions by
their radiance, so far does the thousandfold world-system extend. And in that thousandfold
world system there are a thousand moons, a thousand suns, a thousand Mount Sinerus the
king of mountains; a thousand Jambudpa continents, a thousand Western Goyana
continents, a thousand Northern Kuru continents, a thousand Eastern Videha continents; a
thousand four great oceans, a thousand four divine kings and their heavens. , and
there are a thousand Brahma-worlds. A. 29 (Nyanoponika & Bodhi: 244-245)

Later commentaries provided various dimensions for these world-systems.

Buddhagosa (amoli: 218-21) describes the diameter of the earth disc as 203,450
'leagues', (yojanas) - which is around 8 million miles across - the moon as 49 yojanas
across, and the sun as 50. Mount Sineru, is 84,000 yojanas (over 500,000 miles) high
and stretches under the oceans to the same distance. Jambudpa considered to be the
continent of India - is 10,000 yojanas (around 70,000 miles) long. These dimensions
appear very strange from a modern scientific perspective.
Buddhagosa (amoli: 455-63) also describes in detail how worlds contract and
expand over vast eons. The contraction may be due to water, fire or air and is linked
to the greed, hatred and delusion of the occupants of the worlds.
How should we view traditional Buddhist Cosmology in the light of modern science?
Before exploring this question we should appreciate that the 31 realms described in
the Pali Canon are viewed as both physical and psychological realms to be tuned
into in meditation. This ambiguity is not a recent interpretation, but exists in the
earliest texts.
The Dalai Lama suggests that where there is a clear conflict between empirical
scientific fact and traditional Buddhist descriptions of the world, then the Buddhist
descriptions should be discarded. (Jinpa: 77). Thus he suggests that many aspects of
Abhidharma cosmology, especially ideas about the size of the earth and moon and
distances between them should now be rejected.
Sadakata goes further than the Dalai Lama and demythologizes rebirth as:
The body of a dead worm returns to the earth, and its constituents change and
become grass. This grass is eaten and becomes part of a cow, and eventually
people eat the cow. Then they, too, return to the earth and become worms . . .
Transmigration is the intuitive expression of this meaningless round of birth and
death (Sadakata: 177).

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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Gethin (1997: 186), however, adopts a more sympathetic and subtle approach. Rather
than simply seeing Buddhist Cosmology in scientific terms he suggests that we should
see it as a mythological framework which brings the bare doctrinal formulas to life.
He quotes Stanley Tambiah as commenting that the traditional Buddhist
cosmological scheme:
..says figuratively and in terms of metaphorical images the same kind of thing
which is stated in abstract terms in the doctrine. The basic doctrinal concepts of
Buddhism . . . which are alleged to explain man's predicament and to direct his
religious action, are also embedded in the cosmology (and its associated
pantheon).

Gethin observes that:

..to ignore the mythic portions of ancient Buddhist texts is to fail in a
significant way to enter into their thought-world.

It is interesting that Buddhist cosmology did not lead to charting the movement of
celestial bodies. Indeed, the existence and motions of the planets does not appear to be
described in Buddhist cosmology. (Kloetzli: 46).
And although there was an interest in the calendar (Conze:19), involvement in
astronomy and related activities was discouraged and described as earning wrong
livelihood from the low arts:
. some priests and contemplatives, living off food given in faith, maintain
themselves by wrong livelihood, by such lowly arts as forecasting:
there will be a lunar eclipse;
there will be a solar eclipse;
..the sun and moon will go their normal courses;
the sun and moon will go astray;
the asterisms (stars and planets) will go their normal courses;
there will be a meteor shower;
there will be a rising, a setting, a darkening, a brightening of the sun,
moon, and asterisms;
such will be the result of the lunar eclipse...the rising, setting, darkening,
brightening of the sun, moon, and asterisms
he abstains from wrong livelihood, from lowly arts such as these.
(D.11 Kevatta (Kevaddha) Sutta)

One cannot help but conclude that Buddhist cosmological models were not intended
as accurate and quantitative guides to the physical geography of the earth or the
universe. Certainly it seems unlikely that any early Indian explorer would have
considered using Buddhist cosmological descriptions as practical navigational tools or
maps.

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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------In summary then, Buddhist cosmology provides a vivid and memorable framework
combining the Buddhas teachings with an abstracted physical metaphor for the world
and universe that we experience. Buddhist cosmology can best be appreciated as
myth, metaphor, maps of the psyche and guides to meditation (where other worlds
and their beings can be experienced) rather than as only flat descriptions of an
objective physical reality.
The main point of Buddhist physical models is to create a meaningful (in embodying
Buddhist conceptions) model of our experience of our physical universe rather than
being concerned with the accurate quantification of an objective physical world.
As long as we do not confuse traditional Buddhist Cosmology with an attempt to
provide exact quantitative models of the physical universe, then there is no problem.

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7. Cycles of Change in Biological and Human Society

that gradations in the perfection of any organ or instinct, which we may consider,
either do now exist or could have existed, each good of its kind, - that all organs
and instincts are, in ever so slight a degree, variable, - and lastly, that there is a
struggle for existence leading to the preservation of each profitable deviation of
structure or instinct. The truth of these propositions cannot, I think, be disputed.
Darwin, (1968:435)

One of the most influential scientific theories of recent times has been that of
evolution, presented by Darwin. Darwins theory of natural selection explains how
small variations in the physical characteristics of animals or of their behaviour would
tend to affect their survivability. Over long periods of time, those characteristics
which favour greater biological success would tend to become more commonplace in
a species, eventually leading to new distinct capabilities.
Classical Darwinism makes no statement about whether natural selection leads to the
progress of life in any sense apart from survivability 11. Indeed there are many
examples of species which have lost capabilities (such as flightless birds) but which
are well adapted to their environment without the burden of redundant abilities, so
progress as understood as a movement from simpler to more complex forms may
happen, but is not an inevitable result of Darwins ideas.
Changes in the complexity and diversity of organisms are outcomes governed by
unpredictable changes in the complex webs of life that an organism occupies. This is
the apparently random nature of natural selection which has concerned some,
including Buddhists and eminent biologists 12 13
I would say that biological conditioned genesis is a reasonable Buddhist equivalent
of the term Darwinian natural selection, and just as conditioned genesis has no
beginning and no divine purpose (and cannot be seen as progress, inevitable or
otherwise), neither has natural selection.
Darwins theory presents few problems for Buddhism. Indeed his theory accords very
much with Buddhist ideas of conditionality, with impermanence and with the natural
laws categorised as Bijaniyma. The great time periods over which evolution works
also fits well with Buddhist views of time as measured in kalpas and eons.
Darwin also viewed the human and animal world as a single and very complex web of
life which included the environment something which Buddhism would also agree

11 The march of progress which has so often been used to describe evolution is in fact a mistaken
metaphor (Gould 1989:27- 45).
12

Willson (p50) says that 'The facts are quite consistent with the concept of evolution as an intelligent
process', ( a statement which is definitely not compatible with orthodox Darwinism).
13
Wilson (174-176) states that there is another meaning of progress that does have considerable
relevance to evolution. Biological diversity embraces a vast number of conditions that range from the
simple to the complex, with the simple appearing first in evolution and the more complex later.

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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------with, although Buddhist cosmology does distinguish between the animal and human
realms as desirable rebirths and as realms conducive to realising enlightenment.
Both Buddhism and Darwinian evolution recognise cyclic patterns over time. The
fossil record provides evidence for great cycles of change, from simple life-forms
through to a great diversity of complex forms depending upon the prevailing
conditions. Life has almost disappeared from the earth on a number of occasions (for
example, at the end of the Cretaceous period 65 million years ago).
We can also observe cycles of change in the rise and fall of great civilisations.
In Buddhism, both the Cakkavatti Sihanda Sutta (D III. 58 79) and the Aggaa
Sutta (D III84-92) have some relevance to the question of social and biological
evolution, although in these Suttas the story is of a devolution driven by
degeneration in morality and only refers to humanity and not the whole web of life.
So the Cakkavatti Sihanda Sutta says that originally, because human kind were
moral, they lived for a long time (80,000 years!) and were healthy and beautiful,
living in wealth and pleasure. However, gradually they began to behave in more
unskilful ways. As a result the human life-span also began to shorten, down to our
current level of around one hundred years. Accompanying this decline in life-span
was a proportionate reduction of human beauty, wealth, and pleasure. The Sutta
suggests that with a continual decline of morality the human life-span will decline to
around ten years, with sexual maturity at five years. At this time there will be hatred,
malevolence, fierce rage, and murderous thoughts: mother for child, child for mother,
father for child, child for father, brother for sister, sister for brother. Conditions will
decline to the point of a "sword-interval," in which swords appear in the hands of all
human beings, and they will hunt one another. Some people, however, hide to escape
this time, and when the carnage ends, come out of hiding and commit to a virtuous
life. Virtuous behaviour gradually reverses the devolution of human life-span which
will return eventually to 80,000 years. At this time only three diseases will exist,
desire, hunger, and old age. The Buddha Metteyya (Maitreya) will then realise
Awakening, and establish a new Sangha.
The Aggaa Sutta describes the apparent descent of divine beings from the

bhassara Brahm world during a period of expansion of the world. These superior
beings mind-made, feeding on delight, self-luminous, moving through the air,
glorious gradually fall over immense periods through lower worlds into a world of
sexually differentiated beings where the breaking of precepts became commonplace.
The remainder of the Sutta then describes the way that the classes of Brahmins and
other castes arose, followed by verses emphasising the importance of the Dhamma for
all classes of people.
Although the Darwinian and Buddhist accounts might appear to contradict each other,
this contradiction disappears when we recognise that evolution is a biological process
which operates at the physical level and hence fits within the Bijaniyma category,
whilst the Aggaa and Cakkavatti Sihanda Suttas are mainly describing moral and
mental processes which fit within the Kammaniyma and Cittaniyma category.
Buddhism views craving and ignorance as fuelling the Kammaniyma processes,

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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------whilst evolution is driven by spontaneous genetic mutation and natural selection of
those mutations best adapted for specific environmental conditions.
Having said this, these categories are not entirely disconnected from each other and
we might also reasonably compare the impoverished environment caused by the
unskilful behaviour described in the Aggaa and Cakkavatti Sihanda Suttas with
our current period of rapidly declining diversity and breakdown of biological systems.
These two Suttas are also interesting as they describe examples of what might be
described as group or social-kamma.
As Harvey observes (BUDM04: S4.4.3):
.. perhaps the best way to relate to the Cakkavatti-shanda Sutta idea is as a
general type of model of the deleterious social and health effects of moral decline
in society, that may occur at various times and places, over various time scales.

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8. Conclusion
The relationship between science and Buddhism is of great current interest. Like all
traditional religions, Buddhism is vulnerable to an increasingly influential scientific
worldview. In examining the relationship between science and Buddhism I have
suggested that there are affinities and that constructive rules of engagement can be
identified.
Both science and Buddhism agree that there are patterns in the world we experience
which are regular and discernible through empirical means. These patterns are known
as dhammas in Buddhism, which has a well developed dhamma theory. Scientific
laws may also be regarded as describing regular patterns or dhammas and so this
suggests a basic point of affinity between Buddhism and science.
The Buddhist commentarial tradition expands upon types of dhamma to create a
framework categories of natural laws or principles niyma - that would support a
combination of limited retreat and significant syntheses between science and
Buddhism.
In applying our rules of engagement to the Buddhist view of the world, the
undetermined questions, cosmology, and social and biological evolution we have
found that the areas of retreat are limited most obviously to some Buddhist
measurements of planetary sizes and distances. We have also seen that there is a
significant issue of interpretation of traditional Buddhist teachings. Buddhist
cosmology is perhaps best regarded as framing the range of wholesome and
unwholesome conditions that can dominate the mind, as a projection of states that can
be tuned into via meditation, and as a qualitative model of doctrine, rather than as a
practical geographic and scientific guide to the physical world or worlds. Clearly, in
order to apply our rules of engagement we must appreciate the categories that are
appropriate and whether we are comparing like with like.
In examining the Buddhist and scientific views of the world, we have seen that
Buddhism (from a kammaniyma and cittaniyma stance) equates the world and the
self and sees this identity as a key area for confusion leading to the various forms of
mistaken or badly formed metaphysical questions which the Buddha did not answer.
Science (from a utuniyma physical stance) regards the first four undetermined
questions as valid and has been gathering astronomical data and proposing theories
for a considerable time. However, there are still many unanswered questions and
much conflicting data about the nature and life-cycle of the physical universe.
From a scientific perspective the remaining undetermined questions concern the
possibility of post-mortem survival. This possibility runs counter to the prevailing
scientific worldview. However, there is growing interest in studies of near death
experiences, and evidence for reincarnation which is difficult to explain.
Our examination of both biological evolution and cycles of change in society has
revealed no basic conflicts between science and Buddhism, but simply differing
niyma perspectives. Biological evolution would fit comfortably within the
bijaniyma category.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------However, the niyma framework that I have described would struggle to cope with
Scientism, the elevation of science to the position of a new form of nature worship.
Buddhism would regard Scientism as an annihilationist and materialist doctrine that
had lost touch with the prime soteriological purpose of life.
It is in this fathom-length carcase, friend, with its perception and mind-organ
(mano) that, I declare, lies the world, and the origination of the world, and the
stopping of the world ( = Nirv.na), and the course that leads to the stopping of
the world (S.I.62).

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Bibliography and Abbreviations

A.

Aguttara Nikya, 1999, Numerical Discourses of the Buddha,

Nyanoponika Thera & Bhikkhu Bodhi, AltaMira Press

D.

Digha Nikaya, 1987, Thus Have I Heard, M.Walshe, Wisdom

M.

Majjhima Nikya, (tr. Bhikkhu amoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi), The Middle
Length Discourses of the Buddha, Boston, Mass., Wisdom, 1995.

Pv.

Petavatthu (Th.);(Tr. H.S. Gehman), The Minor Anthologies of the Pali

Canon, Part IV, London, PTS, 1974

S.

Sayutta Nikya, 2000, (tr Bhikkhu Bodhi), The Connected Discourses of

the Buddha, Wisdom, Boston

Uss.

Upsaka-la Stra; (tr Heng-ching Shih), The Sutra on Upsaka Precepts,

Berkeley, Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, Bukky
Dend Kykai, 1994

Vism. Visuddhimagga (of Buddhagosa); (tr. Bhikkhu amoli), 1979, The Path
of Purification, 4th edn, Kandy, Sri Lanka, BPS (Pagination refers to the
translated edition)
Ames, William L, 2003, Emptiness and Quantum Theory Buddhism and Science
Breaking New Ground, Edited by Alan Wallace, New York, Columbia
Bodhi Bhikkhu and amoli Bhikkhu, 1995, The Middle Length Discourses of the
Buddha, Wisdom Publications, London
Capra, Fritjof, 1979, The Tao of Physics, Fontana/Collins
Collins, S., 1982, Selfless Persons, Cambridge University Press
Conze, E.,1967, Buddhist Thought in India, Ann Arbor, University of Michigan
Darwin, Charles, 1968, The Origin of Species, Penguin Classics
Garfield, J.L., 2002, Empty Words, Oxford University Press, (Chapter on Ngrjunas
Theory of Causality: Implications sacred and profane, pp. 69-85)
Gethin, Rupert, 1997, Cosmology and Meditation: From the Aggaa Sutta to the
Mahyna; History of Religions 36): 183-219.
Gould, S.J., 1991, Wonderful Life, Penguin Books
Gould, S.J., 2002, Rocks of Ages: Science and Religion in the Fullness of Life,
Ballantine Books
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Harvey, P., 1995, Contemporary characterisations of the Philosophy of Nikyan
Buddhism, Buddhist Studies Review, Vol. 12, no.2
Harvey, P., 1990, An Introduction to Buddhism, Teachings, history and
practices, Cambridge University Press
Harvey, P., 1995, The Selfless Mind, Curzon Press
Hawking, S.W, 1988, A Brief History of Time, Guild Publishing London
Jayatilleke, K.N., 2000, The Message of the Buddha, Buddhist Publishing Society,
Kandy
Jinpa, Thupten, 2003, Science as an Ally or a Rival Philosophy? Buddhism and
Science Breaking New Ground, Edited by Alan Wallace, New York,
Columbia,
Kloetzli, W.R.,1989, Buddhist Cosmology, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi
amoli Bhikkhu, 1979, The Path of Purification - Visuddhi Magga,
Buddhist Publication Society, Sri Lanka
Nyanoponika Thera & Bhikkhu Bodhi, 1999, Aguttara Nikya, Numerical
Discourses of the Buddha, AltaMira Press
Sadakata, Akira,1997, Buddhist Cosmology: Philosophy and Origins. Tokyo: Koosei
Publishing Co.,
Stevenson, I., 1974) Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation', 2nd edition
Susskind, L., 2003, A universe like no other, 'New Scientist' November 2003
Tambiah, S. J., 1970, Buddhism and the Spirit-Cults in North-East Thailand,
Cambridge University Press
Wallace, A.(ed), 2003, 'Buddhism & Science - Breaking New Ground', Columbia,
New York
Walshe, M.,1987, Thus Have I Heard - The Long Discourses of the Buddha,
Wisdom Publications, London
Wilson, E.O., 2001, The Diversity of Life, Penguin
Willson, M., 1998 Rebirth and the Western Buddhist, Wisdom Publications

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